After an impressive show in Lok Sabha polls, what lies ahead for Opposition?

The Congress party has improved its tally substantially from 52 in the last Lok Sabha to 99 in the 18th Lok Sabha

The new government has been formed, and ministries allocated, but how will the opposition bloc, which gave the Bharatiya Janata Party a scare , and especially the Congress, behave over the next five years?

Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. (HT Photo)

Some pointers to this are available in speeches made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday to party workers at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) .

Both leaders, who have witnessed the downward trajectory of the party in the last decade, spoke about the revival of the party even as it reconciles itself to the prospect of being out of power for 15 years, or three full Lok Sabha terms. While Kharge spoke about the importance of the unity of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) allies in the Opposition benches and review in states where the party has not performed well in the polls, Sonia Gandhi issued a clear warning to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on the functioning of Parliament.

Rejection of Modi’s leadership

Sonia emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies have “suffered political and moral defeat” in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

In her first verbal attack on Narendra Modi after the elections Sonia told the meeting of the CPP that, “The Prime Minister who sought the mandate solely in his name to the exclusion of both his party and its allies has suffered a political and moral defeat. In reality, he has lost the mandate he sought and thereby lost the right to leadership as well. Yet, far from taking responsibility for failure he intends to get himself sworn in again tomorrow. We do not expect him to change the substance and style of his governance, nor take cognizance of the will of the people.”

Kharge echoed that sentiment:  “People have spoken against the dictatorial and anti-democratic ways of the ruling party. It is a decisive rejection of the politics of the last 10 years. Its rejection of the politics of divisiveness, hate and polarization.”

But why do the Congress’ top leaders refuse to give the political legitimacy to Modi 3.0?

After all, the Modi-led BJP emerged as the largest party in this election and the NDA alliance has a comfortable majority in the Lower House.

By questioning the NDA’s political legitimacy, the Congress is preparing the ground for its politics over the next five years, including the immediate challenge of assembly elections in Maharashtra and Bihar.

Emphasis on Opposition’s strength in Parliament

The Opposition space, undoubtedly, has shrunk in Parliament in the last 10 years. Opposition parties lost chairmanship of standing committees, major bills were passed without debates or sent to committees not headed by Opposition leaders for reviews. But this time, with 234 MPs, the Opposition is emboldened.

At the CPP meeting, Sonia Gandhi declared that “No longer can and should Parliament be bulldozed like it has been for a decade now” and “No longer will the writ of the ruling establishment be permitted to disrupt Parliament, whimsically mistreat members or push through legislation without due and proper consideration and debate”.

“No longer can and should Parliamentary Committees be ignored or bypassed or stifled as it has been over the past ten years,” she added.

Gandhi , who was re-elected as the CPP chief for another five years even as the CWC asked her son, former party chief Rahul Gandhi to take the leader of Opposition’s (LoP) post in the new Lok Sabha.

If Gandhi indeed becomes the LoP, the negotiations between the government and the Opposition in running the House, selecting heads of various institutions such as CVC, CBI or election commissioners, might hit a roadblock.

Sonia also reminded the new team of the Congress lawmakers of their duties amid signs of heightened confrontation between the government and the Opposition in the 18th Lok Sabha.

“In this election the people have voted decisively to reject the politics of divisiveness and authoritarianism. They have voted to strengthen parliamentary politics and safeguard our Constitution. They have voted for the agenda of economic and social justice. That indeed should continue to be our objective and guide,” she said, asking her colleagues to be “watchful, vigilant and proactive in holding Modi and his new NDA government accountable.”

Focus on unity of alliance

The INDIA bloc, a group that has 234 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha, must function “cohesively and collectively both in parliament and outside”, Kharge said at the meeting of the extended CWC on Saturday .

The Congress president, who played a key role in the formation of the grouping added: “I will be failing in my duty if I don’t acknowledge the INDIA Alliance partners, in which each party played its designated role in different states, each party contributed to the other. Our determination is that the INDIA group must continue. We must function cohesively and collectively both in parliament and outside.”

Even as the Congress party has improved its tally substantially from 52 in the last Lok Sabha to 99 in the 18th Lok Sabha, it accounts for less than 50% of the INDIA bloc’s numbers in the Lower House. And with temperamental allies such as Trinamool Congress (TMC) or Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kharge, who has over 50 years of politics behind him, knows unity is key.

Kharge added that out of power, the alliance must find ways to stick together.

The raging issues that were raised during the election campaign could possibly be a rallying point for the Opposition. That’s why, addressing the extended CWC attended by 120 of 139 members, Kharge possibly asked the party to continue to raise the issues highlighted during the Lok Sabha campaign.

“The issues that we raised in the election campaign are issues that are bothering the people of India. We have to continue to raise them both in parliament and outside,” he said.